Another Reason
by The Rogue Lion
Summary: Simba just can't seem to fall asleep. In his wake, he ends up thinking about a certain cub.


**A/N:** Sorry for the really late update, again. I've just been playing some Minecraft and watching a ton of videos. It's gotten me really off track. Anyways, here's a oneshot that'll, hopefully, satisfy your need to read.

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Simba tossed and turned. He couldn't sleep. The ground felt hard and cold. He was never going to fall asleep. Too many things were on his mind and the loud snores radiating from the sleeping lionesses didn't help one bit.

Simba rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The events from earlier today began to pour into his mind.

"_So where are we going? It better not be any place dumb," Nala said as her mother bathed her._

"_No, it's really cool." the golden cub said to his light tan friend._

"_Where is this 'really cool place'?" a voice behind him asked._

_Simba winced upon hearing this, but quickly regained his composure. "Uh…down by the waterhole," he lied._

"_The waterhole?" Nala exclaimed from behind him. "What's so great about the waterhole?"_

_Simba whirled around and said through clenched teeth, "I'll show you when we get there."_

_Nala's face brightened. "Oh…" she said, now knowing that her friend was lying about the waterhole. She looked up at her mother who was now finished bathing her. "Uh, mom? Can I go with Simba?"_

_Sarafina looked at her daughter, then to Sarabi. "Hmm, what do you think Sarabi?"_

_Both cubs turned around looked up hopefully at her. "Well…"_

"_Please?" they both chimed in unison with big smiles showing their teeth._

"_It's alright with me," she said. As both cubs cheered and began to run off, she added, "as long as Zazu goes with you."_

Simba silently groaned at the memory. He wished he never even thought of going there, let alone inviting his best friend to go with him. Why couldn't he keep his promise to his uncle and never go there? He wouldn't dare try to remember what happened at the Elephant Graveyard. He wanted to do the complete opposite. He would never want to remember that place ever again!

And then there was Zazu. He was supposed to look after them and they had tried to get rid of him! After a couple minutes passed by, another thought made its way into his head. Zazu had said something about him and Nala being something that starts with a 'B.' He couldn't remember what the word was, but it meant that he was supposed to marry Nala. Simba focused on the memory, trying to recall exactly what had happened.

_The two cubs have been whispering to one another, discussing how they would get rid of their babysitter. Suddenly, said babysitter swooped down and landed in front of them. "Look at you two. Little seeds of romance blossoming in the savannah! Your parents will be proud, what with you being betrothed and all," he said, beaming at them._

"_Be-what?" Simba asked._

"_Betrothed," Zazu repeated. "Intended, affianced."_

_Both cubs looked at each other with the same puzzled expression. Nala turned and looked at Zazu again. "Meaning?"_

"_One day you two are going to be married!" Zazu said happily._

_Simba and Nala both wore faces of disgust at the mentioning of them getting married. "I can't marry her. She's my friend!" Simba exclaimed._

"_Yeah," Nala agreed. "It'd be so weird."_

"_Well sorry to bust your bubble, but you two little turtledoves have no choice!" Zazu said, not noticing Simba mocking him behind his back. "It's a tradition that goes back generations!"_

_Simba smirked. "Well, when I'm king, that'll be the first thing to go," he said to Nala._

"_Not so long as I'm around," Zazu voiced._

"_Well in that case, you're fired," Simba said with a sly smile._

"_Hmm, nice try, but only the king can do that!" Zazu countered, touching Simba's nose with a feathered finger._

"_Well, he's the future king," Nala said._

"_Yeah, so that means you got to do what I tell you," Simba stated, jabbing Zazu in the chest with a paw._

"_Not yet I don't! And with an attitude like that, I'd say you're shaping up to be pretty pathetic king indeed!"_

Zazu had a point there. If he didn't start taking up responsibility soon, he would be a horrible king. But he wasn't too worried about that.

Simba was sure that Nala would be there to help him if he needed it. He was glad he had a friend like her. He knew she'd be there for him no matter what. His rolled over again and lied on his stomach. His eyes scanned the den and they happened to land on the aforementioned cub. Simba couldn't help but crack a smile. She looked so peaceful while she was asleep. _"She looks beautiful when she's sleeping…"_ he thought, not giving it a second thought. He continued to stare at her until he realized what was just thinking of. He immediately shook away the thoughts. There was absolutely no way he could think of her like _that._ They were friends, nothing more. Simba tore his gaze from her and tried looking somewhere else, but there was something about her that seemed to draw him in.

Within the next few minutes, his orbs were already back on Nala. Simba tried shutting his eyes and sleeping, but he was more restless than ever. All the times he spent with Nala kept popping up in his mind. No matter what he did, he couldn't escape it. It forced his eyes back open. It seemed like Nala was the only thing that seemed to relieve the aggravation he was feeling.

"_Why am I feeling this way?" _he thought helplessly. He tried thinking of every possible answer to his question. One stood out above the rest. _"There is _no _way that's possible…"_ But the more Simba thought about it, the more that one reason was the answer he was looking for. He looked back at Nala and the feeling of peace washed over him again. _"Maybe I _do _love her…"_

As if on cue, all the tension in his body disappeared. He felt as light as a feather. Suddenly, the ground started to feel warmer and softer. Simba's eyelids began to droop slightly. Sleep was finally starting to come over him. His chocolate orbs drifted back over to Nala and smiled. _"If she's going to be my queen, then I just can't wait to be king." _With that in mind, Simba shut his eyes and drifted into a quiet slumber with the smile still on his muzzle.

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**A/N:** Wow. This thing took me forever to write. I had to keep looking back and forth between the movie to get the dialogue and actions fairly accurate. And I'd like to apologize if you see a gap anywhere in the story. I wrote the last paragraph some days ago and wrote the other parts at different intervals, so they may not flow as well.

I'd actually like to give credit to whoever wrote that oneshot for Nala. It's the complete parallel of this, just in Nala's P.O.V. It goes off with Nala having some dream about her and Simba being older and in a jungle. She ends up admitting to herself that she loves him when she wakes. And there's also a line going something along the lines of: "Maybe being betrothed won't be so bad." If someone can find it for me, it'd be much appreciated.

I've recently come up with a bunch of new ideas. If you'd like to check them out, either head to my profile or to my facebook page which my homepage link. There's also a poll on my profile asking if I should make an idea an SNL or not. Just keep in mind that if I do make it an SNL, it'll be really weird.

Also, if you haven't already, check out Shadowlandx0's _Kingdom of Ashburn: The Secrets of Bloodlust_. It's pretty good and not what'd you'd expect to find in The Lion King section of fanfiction. I've actually given a few suggestions to Shadow and some of them have been implemented already. It's very interesting how things play out and I've, so far, predicted one thing that'll happen. So anyways, check that out.

_**The Rogue Lion**_


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